Northey: No taxes needed to boost water quality

JOHNSTON - Addressing Iowa's water-quality problems will take millions of new dollars, but one of the key players in implementing the solution is advocating against a tax hike to fund them.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey believes lawmakers can find money in the state budget to at least begin to implement strategies the public is demanding.

'I really think in a budget of $7.3 billion when we're talking about $30 million a year, I prefer the idea of being able to take it out of existing funding without new taxes,” Northey, a Spirit Lake farmer in his third term, said Friday on Iowa Public Television's 'Iowa Press.”

Northey doesn't support those who want to raise taxes to underwrite a large-scale water-quality program. That includes adding three-eighths of a cent to the state sales tax to fund the constitutionally protected Iowa Water and Land Legacy Trust Fund voters created.

Instead, he thinks a plan in the GOP-controlled Iowa House that pools existing funds to begin a long-term cleanup of Iowa's waters is the best approach and has the best chance of winning legislative support.

'That is a bipartisan plan, it doesn't raise taxes, it doesn't compete with education,” he said. 'It's still a significant increase in dollars.”

The Democratic-led Senate has discussed a number of plans, 'but they haven't been able to get anything out,” Northey said. 'So I'm nervous about whether we see something coming out of the Legislature or not.”

If nothing, Northey said his department and others would continue programs with existing funding.

If lawmakers can't agree on a plan before adjourning - probably next week - Northey hopes there are some conversations before the next legislative session that will lead to a long-term funding plan.

'So I think it's a lost opportunity, but I still see the momentum,” he said.

Northey, 56, continued to be vague about his future. He confirmed he's thinking about seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2018.

'We are very strongly considering that,” he said, but he won't make a decision until next year. 'But we're talking with folks and trying to understand what pros and cons and who else, we don't know who else would be running. So it depends on lots of things to make that decision.”